quilting

Pantographs

1 Comment / Innova, Long Arm Quilting, Pantograph Quilting, quilting, Spike / By

Right before I finished my student teaching, I decided to load some fabric up on Spike and play a little. For some crazy reason, I picked Kona White fabric and wait for it…BLACK Omni Thread. I think the stress of student teaching had finally gotten to my brain and I must have cracked just a little because I didn’t think about the fact that black on white would show EVERY SINGLE IMPERFECTION!  After I loaded up the fabric, I taped down my very first pantograph pattern and decided to give pantos a whirl. I learned a ton, but most importantly, I learned that I like doing pantographs, so this is a service I will start offering to my customers. Now remember loyal customers, this is my first ever try and your quilts will look far superior than this!

I plan to bind this and give it to Anne. She loves little quilts for her stuffies and she is very excited for it to become hers.  I guess, you could also say, that in addition to being a pantograph quilt design, it is also a whole cloth quilt. Maybe one day I will make a whole cloth quilt with a little more intention.

Spiked Pinwheels

6 Comments / Custom Quilting, free motion quilting, Innova, Long Arm Quilting, quilt, quilting, quilts, Sew BitterSweet Designs Patterns, Spike / By

Hello! I am still alive, I promise. I’ve been working on my Master’s degree the last 8 months and have not had much time for quilting. That being said, I still do have patterns coming out! My latest one, called Spiked Pinwheels, is in Issue 21 of Modern Quilts Unlimited!

This quilt is a monochromatic design made in American Made Brand solids, which are so awesome to work with! It’s a new take on the classic pinwheel design using half rectangle triangles. I quilted this beauty on Spike with double batting, so it is thick and luxurious.

So the next time you are at the bookstore make sure you pick up Issue 21, some of my favorite designers are in this issue, including Vicki of Orchid Owl Quilts.

Keep on quilting and I will keep on studying!

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Custom Quilting – Patio Quilt by Tina

2 Comments / Custom Quilting, Customer Quilt, free motion quilting, Innova, Long Arm Quilting, quilting, Spike / By

Last month I had the privilege of quilting a gorgeous Patio Quilt – pattern can be found here on Happy Zombie’s blog – for my guild mate and friend, Tina. She made a gorgeous boy version of the quilt and we both agreed that it was screaming for some wood grain quilting.

Patio Quilt by Tina - https://test.sewbittersweetdesigns.comI fell in love with this quilt as I was working on. It really is the perfect quilt for a little boy. One of the additional services that I offer to my customers, at their request, is to trim the quilting and send the extra fabric and batting back to them. Most of us hate getting down and trimming the quilt so I am happy to offer this additional service to my customers for a small fee.

The texture created by the wood grain quilting pattern is absolutely fantastic!

Patio Quilt by Tina - https://test.sewbittersweetdesigns.com
I love how this turned out, I used a cream on top and on the back and it stands out in some spots and recedes beautifully into the quilt in other spots, when working with a quilt that has multiple colors the key is to pick a thread that will go great with the vast majority of it and not pop out too much. The other option is to use a clear invisible thread like Monopoly by Superior threads, then you don’t see the thread at all but the texture that is created by the stitching. Here is a look at the back.

Patio Quilt by Tina - https://test.sewbittersweetdesigns.comPlease keep me in mind for you quilting needs and remember that Christmas is slowly creeping up on us, if you have quilting needs for Christmas, be sure to email me now so that I can get you on my wait list! I definitely want to help make your Christmas gifts come to life!

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Multiplying Whales

5 Comments / quilting / By

Did you know that whales are a lot like bunnies? They multiply pretty quickly around here.

Whale Blocks - https://test.sewbittersweetdesigns.comMy mom and I are working on a Preppy The Whale quilt, pattern by Elizabeth Hartman. The right facing whales were made by my mom in February when she came up to visit and I made the left facing whales. I am shipping these off to my mom, she is going to finish piecing the whales and then piece the top together before bringing it to me so I can long arm quilt it.

I’m envisioning waves for the quilting. An all over design. I think it will be a very sweet quilt when it is done.

I hope you have a happy Wednesday! I am working on a scrappy quilt. Will have some pictures to share on Friday!

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End of Year Sewing

5 Comments / quilt, quilting, teacher gifts / By

What’s that? End of Year?!? How can that be? I mean the end of the school year of course! This year I am making a very special quilt for Anne’s kindergarten teacher. In my life before Anne I was actually a substitute teacher working on my Master’s in Teaching, so teachers hold a special place in my heart. For the quilt for Anne’s teacher I had each of her students draw a quilt block with Crayola Crayons showing something they learned or did in Kindergarten. Each block I heat set with my iron and a Teflon pressing cloth. I even had the teacher make one!  I am going to sew the blocks together so that the quilt can hang in the classroom and the teacher can use it as a teaching tool for her future classes. Kindergartners telling kindergartners all the things they will learn. I have the banner made for it and today I am hoping to get the sashing in before I go volunteer at the school.

Kindergarten Quilt - https://test.sewbittersweetdesigns.comI hope everyone has a happy Wednesday! Now that my secret sewing has finished for awhile I will be able to post more regularly again!

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